


τὰ πάντα ῥεῖ καὶ οὐδὲν μένει

by a_nybodys



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan, The Heroes of Olympus - Rick Riordan
Genre: Familial bonding, Gen, Stream of Consciousness, improper punctuation, let nico have a mom in sally 2k17, no capitalization, set before nico gets taken by the giants
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-20
Updated: 2017-06-20
Packaged: 2018-11-16 15:54:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 972
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11256156
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/a_nybodys/pseuds/a_nybodys
Summary: a mother without her son and a son without a mother.





	1. Chapter 1

sally jackson was not grieving. she was not grieving because her son was alive, damnit, and she knew it. she knew it like old bones know weather and dogs know ghosts. she had always heard that a mothers intuition is a powerful thing and she just hoped and prayed to every deity listening that hers was too and she wasnt simply in denial. 

paul was at work and she was sitting at the kitchen table with her head clutched in one hand and the handle of a mug of chilly coffee in the other when her prayers were answered in the form of a thumping noise upstairs in percys room. her head snapped up, bloodshot eyes wide and already filling with tears. she stood up, fast enough to topple the chair, and sprinted through the kitchen and up the stairs to her sons room. her son who had been missing for countless weeks, her son who was her pride and joy, her son-

there was a boy, crumpled on the ground. his frame was small, almost emaciated-looking, and all sally could see was the shock of black messy hair on the boys head.

"perc-" she started, already moving to hug him, but the boys head snapped up and-

black hair but skin as pale as a fresh piece of paper not my boy his skin is dark eyes and cheeks so sunken in he looks almost like a skeleton freckles spattered across his face is that a skull on his shirt-

no. this is not her son. this is not her son but she knows him. percy had introduced him to her after the final battle in the middle of a new york street. 

"nico?"

the boy- he could not be more than 14 years old how could he be so pale and skinny and sickly- fixed his bleary, red-rimmed eyes on her and promptly passed out.

no, this boy was not her son, and she couldnt stop the excited and giddy feeling from fading, but godsdamnit, she was going to help him.

gods know he looked like he needed a bit of help.

stooping down, sally gathered the small boy into her brown, freckled arms easily- how much does he weigh this cant be healthy poor boy- and carefully made her way back down the stairs and into the living room. she laid the small boy on the small couch and felt just that- small. she felt small enough to slip through the cracks in the floorboards but almost too big for her skin at the same time. 

smoothing nicos hair from his eyes sally finally let loose what had been trapped in her for the long, long weeks her son had been missing. sally jackson began to cry.

looking back, sally could not say who the tears were for. percy maybe? nico? herself? but in the moment sally let herself go and cried. 

eventually, her tears stopped. eventually, sally gently pulled the aviator jacket from nicos shoulders and laid it on the back of the couch.  
eventually, she draped a thin blanket over nicos shoulders and sat back on her heels, huffing out a sigh. eventually, she stood up.

nico was going to need something to eat and something to drink and she was going to make sure he had just that.

sally strode into the kitchen, righted the toppled chair, and got to work.


	2. Chapter 2

nico felt like he had been run over by a semi-truck. his head hurt, his legs hurt, his chest hurt. and there was something shining in his eyes. he blearily blinked one eye open only to snap it shut again. the blinds were open and the setting sun was shining directly into his eyes.

damn you apollo

the second thing nico noticed, outside of the deep, aching pain, was the sound of someone moving around a kitchen. 

"where-?" he manages to rasp out, completely lost both mentally and physically. the kitchen sounds stop and footsteps start and suddenly there was a womans face hovering over his. nico blinked at her as his brain registered who she was.

"ms. jackson?" he croaked, voice crackling with disuse and pain. her soft brown skin wrinkled around her eyes when she smiled gently.

"yeah thats- well about to be mrs. blofis but-" she trailed off, warm brown eyes shifting slightly to the side, "yeah thats me."

"am- am i in per- your house?"

he smile faltered a bit, but she nodded anyway, curly hair just starting to grey bouncing with her head movement. 

nico put an arm over his eyes. how in hades did he end up here of all places. shadow traveling can take you to china and west africa one moment and take you to your ex-crushs childhood home the next. whatever.

nico sat up, groaning all the way, and sally watched with worry until starting as if shed remembered something and dashing out of the room. nico pulled the thin blue fleece blanket off of himself and moves to grab his jacket. time to leave

he was one arm in when sally returned, a glass of water in one hand and a bottle of aspirin in the other. her brow creased when she saw him.

"what... nevermind. heres some painkillers," she thrust the bottle into his hand, "and some water," she held out the glass, "and i have dinner on the stove."

nico blinked. he looked down at the off-brand pain killers, up to sallys face, to the glass of water. he gingerly took the cup from her hand, feeling like an idiot due to the fact that he had one arm in and one arm out of his jacket. he raised his eyes back to sallys dark bloodshot ones and she nodded and turned to go back into the kitchen. 

well.

okay then.

nico followed.

**Author's Note:**

> anyone sick of my weird ass writing style yet??


End file.
